Rādhā Upākhyāna

The Rādhā Upākhyāna is the account of Rādhā in the Prakṛti Khaṇḍa of the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, in Chapters 47 to 53. It tells who Rādhā is in Goloka, how Sudhāma’s śāpa (curse) brought her to earth as the daughter of Vṛshabhānu, and how her pūjā (worship) first came to the human world.

Rādhā’s eternal nature and her place in creation

The Purāṇa opens this account by telling who Rādhā is. She is the presiding devī of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa’s prāṇa (life-breath). Kṛshṇa’s prāṇa is Rādhā, and Rādhā is Kṛshṇa’s prāṇa. The two cannot be parted.

All the devīs of creation came from parts of Rādhā. From the pores of her divine body (romakūpas) came the whole company of the gopikās (cowherd women), who form the inner circle of Kṛshṇa’s Goloka. From Rādhā’s left side appeared Mahālakshmī herself, so Rādhā is the source even of Bhagavān Vishṇu’s consort.

Brahmā’s tapas to see Rādhā’s feet

Brahmā himself longed to see the holy feet of Rādhā. He did tapas (austerity) for sixty thousand years in Goloka, and he could not get her darśana (sight). Only when Bhagavān Kṛshṇa himself came down to earth, in the Vārāha Kalpa, did Brahmā see Rādhā’s feet.

Virajā and Sudhāma

In Goloka a great event took place. Sudhāma was a gopa (cowherd) and a devoted servant of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa. He came upon Kṛshṇa in the company of Virajā, another devī. Sudhāma went to Rādhā and told her.

Rādhā came with her sakhīs (friends) to face the matter. When she arrived, Kṛshṇa and Virajā had already gone. Virajā, overcome by the situation, changed herself into a river.

In Rādhā’s presence, Sudhāma took Kṛshṇa’s side and mocked Rādhā.

The exchange of śāpas

Rādhā gave Sudhāma a śāpa: he would be born on earth as a dānava. The dānava born from Sudhāma’s śāpa would be known as Śaṅkhacūḍa.

Before he fell, Sudhāma gave Rādhā a śāpa in return: she would be parted from Kṛshṇa for a hundred years and would be born on earth in Bharatakhaṇḍa.

Bhagavān Kṛshṇa comforted both Rādhā and Sudhāma, and accepted what was to happen with calm. Sudhāma fell from Goloka weeping and was born on earth as a dānava.

Rādhā’s birth in Bharatakhaṇḍa

In the Vārāha Kalpa, the age of Bhagavān Varāha’s avatāra, Rādhā was born in Bharatakhaṇḍa. Her father was Vṛshabhānu, a Vaiśya, and her mother was Kaḷāvatī. She was born through vāyurūpa (by way of wind or breath), not through ordinary birth.

When Rādhā was twelve years old, her father Vṛshabhānu arranged her marriage to a man named Rāyaṇa. Rādhā left only her chāyā (shadow-form) with Rāyaṇa for the needs of the household. Rādhā herself stayed unseen, living in spirit on Kṛshṇa’s chest, with him even while she was in another man’s household.

Kṛshṇa comes to Gokula

When Kṛshṇa was fourteen years old, he came to Gokula. Rāyaṇa was Yaśodā’s brother, so Rāyaṇa was Kṛshṇa’s maternal uncle. In this way Rādhā and Kṛshṇa were brought together through the family into which Kṛshṇa had come.

The hundred years of separation and the reunion

The hundred years of Sudhāma’s śāpa ran their course. At the end of that time, Kṛshṇa and Rādhā met during a tīrtha yātrā (pilgrimage). This meeting marked the end of the śāpa and the return of their eternal bond.

After their reunion, Kṛshṇa and Rādhā went together to Goloka. They took with them Kaḷāvatī (Rādhā’s mother), Yaśodā, Vṛshabhānu (Rādhā’s father), Nanda, and all the gopas and gopikās. The whole community of Vraja went up to the eternal realm.

The first pūjā of Rādhā

On Kārtika Pūrṇimā, Bhagavān Kṛshṇa himself first worshipped Rādhā in Goloka. In this pūjā Kṛshṇa wore Rādhā’s kavaca (protective armour-prayer) on his throat and right arm.

Suyajña and the Rādhā pūjā on earth

The Rādhā Upākhyāna ends with the account of Suyajña. He was a great king of the line of Dhruva, and he performed a thousand Rājasūya yajñas at Pushkara. He was struck with leprosy for a failing in ātithyadharma (the duty to a guest). A divine visitor gave Suyajña the Rādhā mantra, Oṃ Rādhikāyai svāhā, and the pūjā vidhi (the way of doing the pūjā).

Suyajña served brāhmaṇas for a year, and his leprosy was cured. Then he did tapas at Pushkara for a hundred divine years. At the end of it, Rādhā appeared and took him to Goloka. So Suyajña became the first human king to do the Rādhā pūjā on earth.

Sources

• Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapter 47 (Rādhā’s nature and origin, Brahmā’s tapas, the Virajā episode, Sudhāma’s mockery)
• Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapter 48 (the exchange of śāpas, Rādhā’s birth, Kṛshṇa in Gokula, the reunion, the first pūjā of Rādhā)
• Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapters 49–53 (Suyajña)